Keep the Faith
by darknightxday
Summary: Tsuna is beaten up and left in the rain. Who is the kind stranger who saves him?  eventual R27, hints of All27. Hiatus
1. Chapter 1: Broken

A/N: Haven't decided whether this is AU or not. Will later contain yaoi (a.k.a boy's love). Don't like, don't read ;D

Got the title from the song 'COLOR' by MARiA~ it's the opening for the Freezing anime~

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN. If I did…*evil noise*

EDIT: There's now a poll on my profile that lets you vote for who you want Tsuna to be rescued by~ you can choose two options ;3

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Tsuna was thrown against the wall roughly. He gave an unmanly squeak of alarm.

"Where's your money?" The gangster yelled at him, his buddies surrounding Tsuna so that he couldn't escape.

"Wha-What?" Tsuna sputtered incoherently, blinking his large caramel eyes innocently, tears starting to form as he spoke. The gangster blushed a bit at how cute his victim was before he shook his head and took out his switchblade threateningly.

"Gimme your money! Or I'll kill you!" He snarled, the gangsters behind him cackling evilly. Tsuna cursed his luck. Why did everything bad happen to him? He didn't do anything to deserve this!

He lived like a normal kid in his neighborhood, Namimori, and went to school every day. He was a law abiding citizen. He never told a lie in his life, for goodness sake! Okay, so maybe his test scores weren't great, and he was the worst athlete in his grade. That didn't exactly give fate a reason to kill him while he was in middle school, right? He squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe this was all a dream. Y-Yeah. A dream. Then, he felt the punch that hit him right on his jaw. Ouch. Maybe this wasn't a dream.

"P-P-Please! Don't kill me!" Tsuna begged, tears leaking from his eyes as the head bully began to beat him up. His chocolate colored hair was messed up and some strands of hair were even being pulled out by the other gangsters. He began to bleed from some of the cuts inflicted by the switchblade. As Tsuna was tossed around, he bit his lip to keep from crying out. He didn't want to give the gangsters any reason to hurt him too badly.

"S-Stop p-p-please!" He pleaded again, only to be kicked around some more. He felt a gangster step on one of his fingers, and heard a crack.

His scream shattered the silence of Namimori. The head gangster cackled in glee as he saw Tsuna's broken finger begin to bleed.

"Keep going 'till he forks over the money," He ordered. The other gangsters nodded in reply and continued to hit Tsuna violently. Tsuna got a heavy kick directly to his head, knocking it back against the brick wall behind him. He coughed viciously, spitting out some crimson blood. He started to slump over, exhausted from the beating, but the gangsters pulled him upright again and held him in place as they continued their ministrations.

Tsuna was so dizzy he could barely even keep conscious. His left eye was swollen shut, and the cut above his other eye kept bleeding and dripping blood so he could hardly see anything. His lip was bleeding and starting to stain his white school shirt. _Oh no,_ he thought hazily. _Mama won't be…happy…about the stain…_

His head pounded like a dozen bombs were going off inside of it. Tsuna winced slightly at the metallic taste of his blood. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment. The gang's jeers and taunts at him were starting to sound more and more quiet, until all he could here was a low buzzing.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the bullies stopped hitting him. He heard the gangsters talk amongst themselves, agree that they should leave him there for dead, leave quickly, and then, quiet. Tsuna could faintly hear the crickets chirping as the sun set. If he strained his ears a little, he could hear the highway a couple of streets away, where the cars were rushing by.

Tsuna ached everywhere; he was bleeding all over the place and he was pretty sure he had more than just a broken finger. He felt a pang of loneliness. He didn't want to die alone, at the side of the road, with no friends, no family…not even a random stranger to call 911 for him.

He cracked his eyes open a little, and admired the sunset through his blurry vision. The sky was a blaze of orange, pink, and purple, with a hint of blue. Tsuna could make out some birds flying across the sky, slowly turning into small black pin pricks and gradually fading altogether. He slid his eyes away from the sun to gaze forlornly at at the drifting clouds, respecting their need for solitude. If only he could get used to being alone…He closed his eyes, tried to fight the darkness that started to consume him, but in the end, he just slumped down and let it take over.

***(a/n: No it's not over yet xD)***

When Tsuna woke up again, it was pouring outside, and he was soaked to the bone. He shuddered as the cold water seeped into his clothes. He lay there limply, hoping someone would come…anyone. But fate continued to ignore him as he sat at the side of the road, waiting for someone who would probably never come. Tsuna felt oddly calm, as if the rain was somehow washing away his worries. He gazed out as the rain continued to spatter against the sidewalk. He heard the distant rumble of thunder as the storm continued to approach.

Tsuna flinched as he saw a bolt of lightning flash through the sky and heard the roar of thunder that followed. He was scared, to be honest. He had never gotten over his rather ridiculous fear of storms that formed when he was a kid. But the lightning never seemed to hit anywhere near him; it stayed the same distance away from him. It was as if he was at the eye of the storm, where it was calm and eerily quiet.

Tsuna couldn't remember how long the storm was, but some time later, it stopped. He felt a bit relieved, but he sank back into a sort of depression he was in before when he realized that still no one had passed by to help him.

Tsuna began to feel unnaturally warm. He started to shiver uncontrollably. His breath came out in short pants, and he watched the little puffs of steam float into the air. They look like cotton candy, he thought absentmindedly, admiring them.

Before long, a light mist started to form in the damp atmosphere. Things weren't going very well for Tsuna. He couldn't believe that not even a single person had passed by his street yet. He felt tired. He felt the most tired he ever felt in his life. He was weary to the bone, and he was pretty sure he was sick. Tsuna started to cough up blood again. He rested his head against the wall and once again succumbed to the blackness of his dreams.

* * *

When Tsuna woke up again, he was sweating heavily and not feeling like he was in the best shape. His vision was sketchy at best and he was having trouble breathing. He slipped in and out of consciousness throughout the day. _Look at the bright side,_ he thought to himself dully as the sun set once again. _At least you've stopped bleeding…mostly._

Tsuna felt like he couldn't survive another day without medical treatment. It would be better to just die here, he thought sadly as he watched another blurry sunset. He thought he heard footsteps, but he figured he was hallucinating again. After all, he thought he heard footsteps every time he woke up…but obviously, no one came to rescue him, right?

Tsuna gazed at a passing cloud forlornly, and felt the blackness start to consume him. In a daze, he wondered if he would die if he let it take over. Yes, he thought to himself. I will let it…end here…He smiled crookedly at the sun, unaware of someone running towards him.

Tsuna stretched out his hand, wanting to touch the sky, just once. He let a single tear slide down his cheek and drip onto the concrete.

He slid his eyes to it as it darkened the road. It looked lonely. In need of a little love.

Tsuna closed his eyes, letting his hand start to drop, letting the darkness that was waiting for him welcome him into its embrace…

Tsuna slipped over the edge just as someone caught his hand as it fell.

***END (To be continued o_o;)***

A/N:

Okay…that was depressing o_o;

Don't worry! Poor Tuna is still living~ I just can't decide who to pair him with (a.k.a who finds him in the end lol xD)

Did you catch the Guardian references? ^_^ Yes, I am a genius.

Tell me if you find any grammar mistakes/spelling mistakes/etc. as this is un-betaed and it's my first fanfic :3 Please review and give your opinion on who I should make his savior :DD I'll try to update soon…If I decide on a pairing =_=;

If I don't...this'll be a oneshot... c': yes I am evil xD

before I forget-please pray for the victims of the tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan TTATT hopefully, my favorite manga/anime artists and their families are safe and sound~

text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to Japan. and no, I'm not trying to dupe money out of you. IT WAS ON THE NEWS x'D


	2. Chapter 2: Awakened

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR. THAT'S WHY I'M WRITING THIS xD

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Tsuna stirred, opening his eyes slowly. He was mildly surprised that he was still living. He felt kind of disappointed. It would have been interesting to die. Tsuna blinked again. He couldn't see out of his left eye! Panicking, he quickly lifted his hand to check if he was blind in his left eye. He brushed the gauze around it. Relieved to find that it was only wrapped, he sighed, then glanced at his hand. It seemed okay. That meant…He looked at his other hand and winced. It was wrapped in gauze as well and his ring finger had a mini-cast around it. Tsuna sat up slowly, noticing that his fever seemed to have disappeared. He looked around the room.

He had been tucked snugly into a bed with white sheets. The desk had rolls of gauze, bandages, and different bottles of creams and medicines. There was also a half empty/full glass of water, an empty bowl, and a clean towel. His (now clean) uniform was neatly folded at the end of the bed. There was a large wall of windows slightly diagonal to his bed. The room was quite large, but scarcely filled with anything personal. It reminded Tsuna of a rented hotel room.

Tsuna eased off the covers gingerly, blushing beet red when he remembered that whoever saved him must have taken off his clothes…He shook his head furiously, still blushing. _Don't think those pervy thoughts_, Tsuna thought to himself in embarrassment. He winced when he bent forward. He looked under his white t-shirt. His normally pale, cream colored skin was dotted with patches of blue and purple bruises and there were many scratches as well. His ribs were heavily bandaged, which explained why he had trouble breathing. Tsuna noticed that his left ankle was bandaged as well, but not in a cast. Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief. The gangsters only sprained his ankle then.

Tsuna stretched a little, careful not to irritate any of his injuries. He was less than successful, but he limped to his feet anyway. He immediately managed to somehow trip over his own feet and fall flat on his face. He grimaced and rubbed his nose in a comforting way. The plants on the windowsill seemed to pity him. Tsuna could imagine them giving him sympathetic looks and thinking he was a complete klutz. Which he was. _There was no point in denying it_, he thought to himself sheepishly, rubbing his hair. He hobbled over to the door, where he found his backpack, looking very battered and bloodstained.

Tsuna dragged his backpack with his good hand towards the desk. He made it just in time to avoid falling/tripping/injuring himself. He sat down heavily on the chair, panting, his face flushed. Having a finger broken was more tiring than he thought it would be. Tsuna opened the backpack cautiously, and found his books stiffer than they used to be. _They must have dried by themselves_, Tsuna thought in a resigned way. Hopefully his notes were still legible or else he'd fail even more epically on his final exams than last year. He opened his notebook, the pages crackling ominously. As usually, his luck was horrible. The ink in all of his books had run down the pages, smearing and turning everything in all of his notebooks into a giant amount of gibberish. Tsuna's eyebrow twitched. He slammed the book closed in a rush and crammed his notebook back into his bag. _Obviously, I won't be looking in my bag…for a while_, Tsuna thought to himself in resignation. His shoulders slumped and he sighed as he dropped his head onto the desk in front of him.

Slowly, he lifted his head to examine the table. Tsuna's attention was caught by the only picture on the desk. He looked closely at it. It seemed to be a graduation photo of some kind, but there were only eight people in it. There was a guy who looked like he was from the army, with a camouflage bandana; he was wincing for some reason. Tsuna located his source of misery: a girl with a high-tech looking goggles was stealthily punching him on the arm while managing an awkward smile. Tsuna laughed a little at that. The guy next to the girl with the goggles had weird green hair, a lab coat, and thick glasses that screamed 'Nerd!' He wasn't even paying enough attention to look good in the photo; he was busy scribbling something down in a notepad. Tsuna moved down to the next row of people.

There was a man who was dressed in red robes, and Tsuna recognized him to be Chinese. His long hair was in a braid and he was calmly smiling at the camera like nothing was happening behind him. Next to the Chinese man was a hooded person with strange triangle markings on their cheeks. The person was wearing a giant cloak type of thing that made it hard to tell what gender they were and was counting money shamelessly. A toad perched on their head. Following the hooded person was a guy with shocking purple hair. He was carrying a helmet with an octopus on it and was wearing some sort of racing uniform. He was being kicked by the man next to him. Tsuna stared at the man who was kicking the poor kid next to him.

He was wearing a black fedora with a yellow trim, a neatly pressed suit, and had a small chameleon perched on his shoulder. His eyes were completely pitch black and he had a wicked, feral smirk on his face that sent shivers down Tsuna's spine. Tsuna had to admit that…he was sort of handsome though. He blushed at the thought. _Stop it Tsuna_, he chided. _You're drooling over a complete stranger. That is called being a pervert._ Tsuna blushed. He'd never thought that he would gawk at some random guy in a photo. In fact, he never thought that he would drool over a guy, period. Tsuna's eye suddenly landed on the last person standing by herself in the front row. She had a large hat on her head, and it was clear she was pregnant. She was smiling beautifully at the camera, and Tsuna smiled back. It was the kind of smile that contagious.

Tsuna put down the photograph with a small sigh. It was pretty obvious that whoever rescued him was one of the people in the picture. He wondered who it was. Tsuna hobbled haphazardly back to the bed before flopping down on it. He thought about it some more. The more he thought about it, the more he felt sure that it was the dangerous looking one that saved him. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he just did. Even though it was obvious that the man was quite…sadistic. He didn't know how to react to that. The gangsters who beat him up were sadists too, right? Tsuna was confused about his conflict of emotions. On one hand, he was grateful that the man had saved him, and he did think that the man was gorgeous (he blushed at this thought). On the other hand, it was clear that that man was dangerous to be around. Tsuna thought about it some more and decided that the unknown man couldn't have been that bad if he had saved him and even nursed him back to health. He closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep again.

***(it's kind of obvious who saved him now, eh? xD)**

When Tsuna woke up again, he sat up and rubbed his eyes wearily, wincing when he practically slapped his broken finger against his other fingers. He looked around. The sun was setting outside, and he had a perfect view of the city from this room. Tsuna searched for signs of people in the room. Finding nothing, he suppressed a stab of disappointment. He was hoping to thank the person who saved him before leaving.

He untangled himself from the sheets that seemed to hate him (he hated them back with equal intensity). Tsuna somehow managed to slowly (re: painfully) struggle back into his uniform. He sniffed it curiously and found it smelled like spicy men's cologne. He found the smell pleasing. Tsuna limped to his backpack and pulled out a stiff sheet of waterlogged paper and a pencil that seemed to be functioning correctly. He shakily wrote out a sincere thank-you note that contained his phone number. He paused and added 'Tsunayoshi Sawada' at the end with a small smiley face. Tsuna carefully leaned his note against the graduation picture, smiling at the scene in the photo before leaning down to grab his backpack.

Tsuna paused next to the bed. It seemed rude to just leave the sheets all tangled and messy. He sighed and dropped his backpack onto the floor. Tsuna stood and surveyed his hard work. He had managed to fold them in a crooked square. It was, sadly, the best he could do. Tsuna swiped at the sheen of sweat on his forehead. _I really need to work out more. I can't believe Mama can fold sheets so perfectly without breaking into a sweat…Well, she is a woman_, he mused to himself. He grabbed his backpack again and limped to the door.

Tsuna reached towards the doorknob…

…and found it locked.

"Where are you going, little fish?" A voice growled into his ear.

**END (to be continued)**

A/N:

Hello again~ I've finally managed to write another chapter! I know my chapters are kind of short, but please spare me. It's my first fic xD by now, you should know who rescued him; if you don't…o_o; well, you'll know next chapter, I guess.

Fanfiction is being quite a *beeeeep* and I can't update, even though I had this ready on Saturday. It won't let me update for some reason...TTATT So sorry for this rather late update~

It was a three way tie between three of the characters, and I was eager to update this fic, so I just told my mom to pick one for me (she looked at me weird). Don't worry; I'll write some one-shots for the other two. And I'm SO happy I got some reviews for this fic! (: thanks for reviewing! Guess I'll reply to reviews from now on x3

**Sherry Leblanc**: thaank you so much! you're feeding my ego 8DD

**DarkEila**: thanks for the poll idea! DD'8 sorry, but it's not Goku or Yama. don't worry though; I'm sure I'll write a one-shot for 5927 soon ;DD

**mayra-the-fox**: aww thanks :3 and yes! it is him (the 1st guy you said x3)

**Orcux**: I know! It was killing me to write that (but I am kinda a sucker for angst and bloodshed xD I know. Sadistic me~) and thanks for voting c; hopefully who you've voted for will be the guy who saves little Tuna-chan~

That's all for now! I'll probably write a couple of one-shots for the other potential pairings that didn't get chosen so don't fret :3 Review and praise my awesomeness! Or to point out mistakes. Yeah. Haven't got a beta yet x)


	3. Chapter 3: Mafia!

A/N: Another chapter for all you folks out there :3 I can't change the summary or the pairing to R27 'cause of having problems there, but just so yah know: it's R27~ I have no idea if there'll be smut later, but if there is I'll definitely put a warning. but probably not as I have never written a lemon…o_o;; alright then, on with the story! (lol I had to add 'moe' to the dictionary)

Also: I will try to increase the length of the chapters as I go along so they aren't so short ^_^ this chapter I'm aiming for at least 3,000.

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR.

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Tsuna froze, his breath stopping. Two arms came from nowhere and trapped him against the door, back towards the person who was speaking. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping he was hallucinating. He hunched forward, a pathetic attempt to seem smaller that obviously didn't work and also made his ribs ache. He whimpered before he could stop the sound from escaping.

"Is that any way to treat the person who saved you?" The voice asked Tsuna in amusement, leaning so close to him that Tsuna could feel the other person's body heat.

"HIEEE!" Tsuna screamed when he felt his captor roughly spin him around and pin him to the door. He shut his eyes again, tears starting to leak out. When all was silent around him, he cracked his eyes open and peeked at the other person.

It was the person who wore the fedora in the picture. Tsuna couldn't say he was surprised, but he was…a little. A teeny tiny bit. The man was still wearing his fedora, but Tsuna could see his eyes even though they were shadowed: they were coal black and undeniably sexy. The man caught Tsuna's eyes. And then the man did the unbelievable: he smirked knowingly at Tsuna, as if he knew exactly what Tsuna was thinking, making Tsuna blush bright tomato red.

"W-W-What?" Tsuna stuttered defensively, refusing to look the man in the eyes. The man chuckled, sending a shiver down Tsuna's spine. The man leaned close to Tsuna's ear.

"Dame-Tsuna…Is this anyone to show how grateful you are to me, your savior, Reborn?" He purred into Tsuna's ear. Tsuna jumped, eyes wide. If it was even possible, he turned even redder.

"H-How do you know my nickname!" Tsuna cried, eying Reborn with distrust, even though he'd saved him. "Are you a stalker? Psychic? Or-," He was cut off when Reborn flicked him on the forehead. Tsuna cried out in pain, shielding his forehead protectively from the evil Reborn.

"Dame-Tsuna, learn to be quieter. I dislike noisy slaves." Reborn said in an offhand manner while taking a phone out of his pocket and dialing a number. Tsuna almost replied but then repeated what Reborn just said in his head. _Dame-Tsuna, learn to be quieter. I dislike noisy slaves._ Tsuna's eyes widened. _WHAT! Did Reborn just say…SLAVE?_

"HIEEE! Slave? Reborn, isn't that a-a…violation of human rights?" Tsuna cried out, remembering his history teacher saying something similar in class. _Good thing I wasn't asleep in that lesson_, Tsuna thought to himself in relief. Reborn smirked at him again.

"If you haven't forgotten, I just saved your life. Of course, I'm not doing that for free, Dame-Tsuna. What do you think I am, a Good Samaritan or something?" Reborn chuckled darkly, pulling his fedora over his eyes. His lizard peeked out at Tsuna around the edge.

Tsuna was sure he could have heard a pin drop in the room. He stood there, a strange look of shock on his face, while Reborn shoved a paper in his hand and put his cell phone next to Tsuna's ear.

"When your mom picks up, just greet her normally then read off the sheet," Reborn commanded Tsuna, while Tsuna's brain was struggling to keep up with all that was happening. Tsuna heard the phone ring a couple of times and then he heard his mom pick up.

"Hello? Who is this?" Nana said, a tinge of worry in her voice. Tsuna still hadn't come home after a couple of days, and she was afraid that something had happened to him. She had almost forgotten a couple of times since she was so busy with her two foster children coming soon, but Tsuna was always at the back of her mind, never truly forgotten.

"H-Hi Mama," Tsuna said, smiling and blushing cutely when she started gushing about how worried she was about him and other things similar to that. He patiently listened to his mother babbling for another couple of minutes, and calmed her down when she began to cry.

"Of course it's not your fault, Mama, it's my fault for…" Tsuna glanced down at the sheet Reborn had given him. Written in bold on the top said 'SLEEPING OVER AT A FRIEND'S HOUSE FOR A SCHOOL PROJECT AND FORGETTING TO CALL YOU'. "Sleeping over at a friend's house for a school project and forgetting to call you. I'm so sorry Mama," He said in a rush, blushing because of how ridiculous he sounded. He heard his mom tell him it was alright and that she was glad that he wasn't in any trouble and he actually started to cry a little too.

"No, I'm fine Mama! How's it going with the foster kids? Oh, they haven't come yet? Ah~ So their names are Lambo and I-Pin? And I-Pin's Chinese? Wow! That's so cool Mom," He laughed and smiled gently at how happy his Mom was acting. Tsuna felt bad about lying to his mom, but there was no other choice. He wasn't exactly going to say that he was beaten up by a gang, left for dead, saved by a complete stranger, and has now become the personal slave of that stranger. He continued to talk to his mom, using his paper for his excuses.

Apparently, his school was now on a field trip to Italy and staying there for an entire year. Obviously, most parents would be suspicious of this, but not his mother. Nana just laughed excitedly and told Tsuna to have a good time. Of course, she was too trusting to even think that her son was lying to her, or to call his school to check what he was saying. Tsuna told her (in a very strangled tone) that he was staying with a close friend. His mom was so excited that he had a friend that she was practically all over this new detail.

"What's his name? What does he look like? Are his parents nice? Where does he live? Oh, I'm sorry is this friend a girl? No girlfriends, Tsu-chan!" Nana bombarded Tsuna with questions. Tsuna blushed and stuttered quite badly when his mom mentioned girlfriends.

Reborn observed all of this stoically, his hat pulled over his eyes. Little did Tsuna know that under that cool façade Reborn was actually blushing…only a little though. _I am not blushing. I am not a pedophile. I do not think little boys are cute when they talk to their mothers. I do not think little boys are moe. I do not get even the slightest bit turned on._ Reborn repeated like a mantra to himself. His lizard, Leon, observed him, seemingly amused at the flustered Reborn.

Finally, after an agonizingly long Q & A with his mom, he hung up after promising his mom to call her every month. Tsuna still had a slight smile on his face when he turned back to Reborn. Reborn straightened and sighed in exasperation.

"Finally, Dame-Tsuna. You took forever and a day explaining to Nana. Hm. I'll need to train you to talk faster and clearer. It would be obvious to everyone but her that you were lying, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn scoffed at him, snatching his phone away from Tsuna's hand like he was rescuing it. Tsuna's face paled when he heard the words 'I'll need to train you.' He could only imagine what 'train' meant to Reborn. Tsuna hoped he would get out alive. After all, he was Dame-Tsuna, the worst at both studying and sports.

"Also, Dame-Tsuna, after three months of intensive training, we are actually going to Italy. So if you attempt to run away…" Reborn took Leon onto his finger and Leon transformed into a gun. Tsuna's eyes, if it was even possible, widened even more. Reborn pointed the green gun at him and smirked his dangerous smirk, a dark aura surrounding him. "You are now considered as a candidate. If you make any false moves, I'll kill you. Slowly. You will not be spared, Dame-Tsuna, just like all of the others." Reborn turned away from him, strolling over to desk and sitting down nonchalantly, almost like he never threatened to kill Tsuna.

Tsuna felt a shiver go down his spine as Reborn turned away. Although he knew that Reborn was serious about killing him, he couldn't help but think that his smirk was still sexy. _I can't believe I just thought that…about Reborn, the guy who I have to be a slave to. For a year._ Tsuna thought to himself, blushing furiously and nearly ripping some of his hair out. Tsuna replayed Reborn's words in his head again. _Wait…what am I a candidate for? Being Reborn's personal slave? _Tsuna thought curiously. _Eh. I don't think I would've even eligible for that. He could have just forced any person to be his slave. Now that I think about it, why did Reborn even save me?_

"You aren't qualified to be asking any of those questions, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn said from the desk. Tsuna jumped and gave an unmanly squeak of alarm. _Did he just…read my mind?_ Tsuna's eye twitched. That meant he knew…that Tsuna had thought…those…perverted thoughts…

"HIEEE!" Reborn finally turned around and glared at Tsuna, ominously pulling out Leon.

"Quiet, Dame-Tsuna. You're disturbing me." He turned Leon into a gun again and fired a warning shot next to Tsuna's head, barely missing and taking a few hairs with it. Tsuna slowly turned his head, sweating freely, his face white as a sheet. The bullet hole was still smoking.

"Don't count on the police saving you. We in the mafia have more power than police will ever dream of having," Reborn said, turning back to flick through something that was resting in his lap. It looked like an extremely thin book of some sort. Tsuna nodded towards Reborn, not really paying attention to what he was saying because he was too busy looking at the bullet hole. Then his words registered in his head.

"M-M-MAFIA?" Tsuna stammered. _Why is God cruel to me? Why does this happen only to me? And why did I suspect that Reborn was in the mafia already?_

"Yes, mafia, Dame-Tsuna. Of course, you suspected because I am so powerfully awesome and can easily kill you. So please stop asking questions to yourself. It's annoying." Reborn threateningly lifted Leon again, without even looking up from his reading. Tsuna nearly shrieked again, but decided he valued his life too much.

"Sorry Reborn…" Tsuna mumbled, regaining some color in his face when Reborn lowered Leon and placed him back on his hat. He sat on the floor next to the bed, leaning on it. He had become Reborn's slave for an entire year. And he had to go through training. And then he would go to a foreign country, where he didn't know anyone and was traveling with someone from the mafia. He was likely to meet more people from the mafia, and probably even join the mafia. _I really hate where my life is going right now_, Tsuna thought in resignation. His fate had already been decided for him.

"Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn called out lazily. Tsuna's head snapped towards Reborn quickly. "I want you to go and get sushi from this place. And get…hmm the Spicy Tuna Roll, the Yellow-Tail Tuna Roll, and the Tuna and Salmon combo sashimi platter. You know what? I think you better write that down before you forget, Dame-Tsuna. If you bring the wrong sushi back, you'll be punished…" Reborn smirked wickedly at Tsuna. Tsuna was unsure if he should be blushing with embarrassment at his own (rather sexual) thoughts , or grow pale in fright at what Reborn could do to him (Beat him? Starve him? The list goes on). Tsuna decided to do neither and to just tremble while writing down what Reborn wanted. Tsuna turned and attempted to go towards the door, but Reborn hooked his finger onto the back of Tsuna's shirt and pulled him back onto his lap.

Tsuna blushed madly at the sudden close contact between him and Reborn. Reborn turned Tsuna's head towards his own and peered closely into Tsuna's eyes. Each second felt like a lifetime to Tsuna, who began to go even deeper red at Reborn's close examination of him.

Reborn continued to look at Tsuna, whom blushed quite cutely. Reborn tilted his fedora slightly forward so it shadowed his eyes. _I wonder what activates his Dying Will Flames. When I rescued him, he had this brilliant but tiny flame on his forehead…just like Primo himself. He looks similar to Primo as well; his chocolate hair is so messy that it annoys me to look at it, his caramel colored eyes have a sense of innocence and naivety of a child, and all I can think of is how cute he is. I think I'm getting soft. And that annoying pineapple pervert is rubbing off on me, ugh. This is so disgusting…me a pedophile…I can't even…_ Reborn let go of Tsuna, his face still unreadable.

"Come back in two hours." Not a statement. Not even a polite request. This was an order from someone in the mafia who could kill someone without even batting an eyelash. Tsuna ran from the room, not even wondering how the door was unlocked now. He ran through the white corridors, not stopping to admire the nice modern art that adorned the walls. Tsuna found an open elevator and jumped in. He looked at the buttons and pressed L. _Hopefully that stood for Lobby, or I'm screwed,_ Tsuna thought to himself shamelessly. Just as the doors were about to close, someone jumped in, joining him. The other person pressed the button just under his, B1.

Tsuna glanced at him curiously. He didn't look like he was Japanese. The man had a shock of snow white hair and lavender eyes that he only just caught a glimpse of. He even had a tattoo under his right eye, two dark purple triangles dripping down .Wonderful. Even better, he was munching on marshmallows. The elevator seemed to go incredibly slow. The man glanced at Tsuna, catching Tsuna staring at him and grinned. Tsuna blushed and looked away, making the man snicker a little.

"Well what do we have here~? What a cute little uke-chan~! I'm Byakuran, and who might you be?" Tsuna looked at him cautiously, still blushing. Byakuran seemed content to cramming as many marshmallows as he could fit into his mouth while still grinning at him. He hadn't even opened his eyes other than to look at which button to press.

"I-I'm Tsuna. Nice to meet you, Byakuran-san." He seemed like a nice person, unlike one member of the mafia who he met today…The elevator dinged and opened at the lobby. "Hope to meet you again soon, Byakuran-san!" Tsuna called as he stepped out. He looked back, smiled and waved. The doors closed on a slightly blushing Byakuran who muttered, "Not if I see you first, Tsuna-chan~ If I see you first, I'll kidnap you, you cute little thing."

***(A/N: I know that Byakuran's part of the Millefiore. Whatever. It's AU people x3)***

Tsuna finally found the sushi shop after half an hour of aimless wandering. The map Reborn had given him was no help whatsoever. It actually got him more lost. Tsuna stopped in front of the sushi shop, looking around for the entrance. When a patron of the shop stepped out of the cloth door and nearly bumped into him, he muttered apologies while blushing. The woman nearly had a nosebleed at the cute boy in front of her, but she just nodded and walked away unsteadily. Tsuna thought she just had a lot of sake. He took a deep breath, lifted the cloth, and stepped in.

The sushi bar was just starting Happy Hour and the place was starting to fill with people, old and young alike. Tsuna spotted a guy around his age and walked hesitatingly up to him. The guy smiled at him cheerfully.

"Hello and welcome to Takeshi Sushi Bar! (A/N: sorry for cutting in, but I have no idea what their sushi place is named xD) What would you like to order?" The guy was so cheerful, Tsuna was speechless for a moment. Then he blushed at his long pause and said,

"Um…could I have," Tsuna looked down at his list, "the Spicy Tuna Roll, the Yellow-Tail Tuna Roll, and the Tuna and Salmon Sashimi Combo Platter to go?" The guy at the counter laughed cheerfully. "A tuna lover, eh? No problem, we'll have that ready in a couple of minutes." He turned away, and Tsuna just caught a glimpse of the name on the nametag: Yamamoto Takeshi. Oh. So it was the son of whoever owned the sushi bar.

"Dad! Spicy Tuna, Yellow-Tail, and Tuna and Salmon Combo! To-go!" Yamamoto called to the back. There was an answering shout and Yamamoto turned back to grin at Tsuna. "Eh heh, that'll be ¥8027 (A/N: hehe…8027) yen please!" Tsuna's jaw dropped. He totally forgot to ask Reborn for money. Fuuudge. He was so dead.

"A-Ano…" Tsuna blushed bright red as he dropped his gaze to the floor, nervously scratching his head, laughing a bit awkwardly. Yamamoto laughed too, while blushing slightly. _The customer is so cute! Haha!_ Tsuna looked up at Yamamoto through his lashes, eyes watery.

"I-I'm so sorry, but I have no money to pay because my mast—ah my friend forgot to give me money…Is there any way to pay you without any money?" Tsuna met Yamamoto's gaze and then darted his eyes away, his blush going even darker. Yamamoto almost had a nosebleed, but held it in. Spraying blood over cute customers wasn't a good thing to do.

"Oh, I'll ask my dad, haha!" Yamamoto replied amiably, and ran over to his dad, who was busy slicing tuna. They conversed for a couple of minutes. They exchanged many laughs and nods. Yamamoto came back holding a package of sushi that had the shop's logo on it.

"Hello again, customer-san! My dad said that you'll have to work here part time for two weeks every weekday to pay it off, haha! He said that after that the sushi will be paid off." Yamamoto said happily, grinning at Tsuna. Tsuna smiled back, and Yamamoto thought he could see sparkles and flowers blooming around Tsuna's face.

"Thank you so much! Ano…I guess I'll start working next Monday then, ne?" Tsuna said, smiling at Yamamoto. Yamamoto grinned and laughed again.

"Sure! You can call me Yamamoto, by the way!" Tsuna laughed too. He never met someone as cheerful and easygoing as his new friend Yamamoto.

"Hi Yamamoto! You can call me Tsuna," Tsuna said, smiling and waving as he left with the sushi, careful to avoid the Friday night Happy Hour drunks. Yamamoto chatted with other customers after Tsuna left, but continued to think about his new friend throughout the day. Yamamoto was quite happy to have made a new friend that he cared about.

***(A/N: Yay! Two new characters! x) this chapter is longer than I thought it would be lol)***

Tsuna made it back into the apartment just in time. He had to avoid a large crowd of drunk woman though. They stalked him all the way to the lobby of the Vongola Casino he and Reborn were staying in. Security had to be called in. They were led by a teen around Tsuna's age, who looked quite annoyed. "Annoying herbivores," The teen grumbled, taking out tonfas and smacking all of the drunks out of the casino. A fluffy yellow bird fluttered from the teen's shoulder onto Tsuna's head. After the teen had beat up all of the offenders, he caught sight of Tsuna and walked over to him.

"Hn. Herbivore, what's your name?" The teen asked him in a bored voice. Tsuna saw he had a nametag on his jacket: it read 'Head of Disciplinary Committee – Hibari Kyouya'.

Tsuna looked up at the yellow bird. It fluttered onto the finger he offered it. He smiled at the bird and it chirped, 'Tuna! Tuna!' Tsuna laughed. He turned to Hibari.

"Ano…it's Tsunayoshi. But call me Tsuna." Tsuna said, leaning towards Hibari. Hibari stiffened and started to raise one of his tonfas, but relaxed when Tsuna carefully placed the bird on Hibari's head. "Does your bird have a name?" Tsuna asked Hibari, not noticing the rest of the Disciplinary Committee gaping at him. Hibari considered him and shook his head carefully.

"Hmm…How about Hibird? It sort of sounds like Hibari and bird together, right?" Tsuna smiled at Hibari, making him blush, but Hibari was careful not to let it show. He shrugged.

"Whatever, herbivore. Stay out of trouble." Hibari left, his jacket flaring out behind him as he left Tsuna standing with his sushi. Tsuna waved, but he wasn't sure if Hibari noticed. Tsuna hummed as he went back up to room R27 (A/N: R27…hehe) where he and Reborn were staying. He came in cautiously and found Reborn sleeping with his fedora over his eyes, leaning back into his chair.

Tsuna cautiously placed the sushi on the table next to Reborn, and looked at his new 'master' who didn't even stir. Gingerly, he took off Reborn's fedora and placed it on the table. Reborn's hair was surprisingly wild and untamed under his hat. Tsuna smoothed some of it out, like a mother would, and trusting his motherly instincts, leaned forward and gave Reborn a chaste kiss on the forehead. Feeling better about himself, he climbed into bed, pulled the covers over his neck, and fell fast asleep.

Reborn cracked open an eye, looking at Tsuna, and made sure he was asleep. Then he slowly reached a hand up and touched where Tsuna had kissed him. If anyone had saw him, they would have sworn he blushed bright red.

**FIN. TBC**

A/N: Finally! I've finished this chapter~ I'm pleased with how long it is: 7-8 pages in word! hopefully, all my next chapters will be around this long :DD I enjoyed writing this chapter; anyhow, I didn't know if I should've introduced someone else on the elevator? I didn't really know anyone else who would go to a mafia casino…actually, I think Mammon would…(too late now, obviously o-o;;) Review please! (don't be afraid to mention grammar or errors in the logic of the plot) If you would, it would be nice to mention who you want me to introduce next to Tsuna in your review~ 8DD and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be updating once every one or two weeks ;3 I'm thinking my stories are too angsty…hmm I have a hard time writing fluff though…which would you guys prefer? angst or fluff? please review and tell! thanks very much~ un-betaed as usual :3

**replies to reviews:**

stormypeach1396 - yay! thanks for the praise (: yesh, my mom is awesome lol xD well, all my friends call Tsuna 'Tuna' (as in tuna fish) so...yeah it was kinda lame lol

shinnifura-chan - yerrr it was the arcobaleno~ lmao I'm sure you aren't blind lol thanks (;

mayra-the-fox - thanks for reviewing again :DD lolol yeah it's not a bad thing that Reborn 'kidnapped' Tsuna lol I think he was saving him. since he's in the mafia and all he couldn't bring him to a hospital or anything soo 8'DD and the weird nickname is cause my friends call him 'Tuna' so the little fish thing was just eh...added lol

PockoChi - aww thanks :') I'll update every week or so, don't worry! I won't abandon Reborn and Tsuna!

4everFanfiction - 8DD yay! glad you think so~

Orcux - lolol no problem 8'DD I'M AN AUTHOR DEAR~ I LOVE UPDATING ;DD the other two were Giotto and Hibari~ My mom just picked Reborn 'cause she was like: 'Nobody has a name like that guys.' =w=

Plushiepaw - naww not really kidnapping; It's like he saved him but he couldn't bring him to the hospital 'cause he's in the mafia, yeah? ;OO AND YEAH MY MOM DID PICK R27 x3 she's weird like that lol

Sherry Leblanc - actually, my ego wants pocky, but a cookie's fine C; omg thanks for makking my ego verrry happy lmao x3


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